The Marauders, Episode I: Ruins of the Sharenian
by Ryden and Xephfyre
Summary: First post for CrapPishh's fanfic challenge. The first mini-fic in a series of seven. Chronicles the adventure of a guild named The Marauders, as they seek to recover the soul of one of their fallen members.


Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory. This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of characters or events to real-life persons or events is purely coincidental.

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A/N: This is just a prologue to the entire story, the whole thing is going to consist of a series of successive fics, consisting of seven mini-fics in total. The first is going to be "Ruins of the Sharenian", followed by "Crow's Talon", "Ghost Ship", "Weapon X", "Goblin King, Fox Hostess", and finally ending off with "Marauder's Fury". Also, for the sake of storyline purposes, I'm going to be nerfing/buffing some of the bosses that are being fought in these fics, because I chose the bosses not by level but by traits and plot details that matched with the character that's going to fight them.

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Prologue

Ruins of the Sharenian

He just sat there, in the chair, numb, his limbs unresponsive to his commands even as his brain screamed commands at him to move, to act, to _say_ something. Even now his friends stood by his side, one of them shooting questions at him, wanting to find out about what had happened, but as much as James Cyrus wanted to tell Hiroshi Takei what had transpired in the Sharenian ruins, his brain would not come up with the words to say, much less even being able to work his mouth to say those words.

He didn't want to think about what had happened there; he didn't want to even _remember_ what had happened there. Oh God, Tricia, what had that monster _done_ to her... James' heart had been unable to even take the blow upon seeing her horribly still body, lying upon the floor like a _corpse_, when she had been smiling and joking with them mere _moments_ before. His heart hadn't just broken, it had _shattered._ His sanity had almost shattered right alongside with it, and everything that happened after that, when he had assaulted that revenant... It was all just a haze, and as his mind began to even touch upon the merest recollection of what transpired, he would mentally recoil in horror, unwilling to touch the memories and relive the pain that came with them.

James shuddered and buried his head in his hands, letting out a long moan of despair.

"Come on James, help me out here. Tell me what happened out there!" Hiroshi's insistent voice sounded in his ear. "I can't help you _or _Tricia if you don't tell me what happened!"

James could only give a despairing moan in response - the whole damn thing was his fault, he should burn in hell for this! It was _his_ idea that they explore the Perion-Sharenian border, it was _his_ sense of direction that they wander deeper into the ruins when they had gotten lost, and most of all, it was _his_ failure to stop Tricia from touching that damned gem when he had known it was nothing but trouble! Gods, James couldn't bear to recount the details to the Japanese Outlaw; it only served as all the more painful reminders of his failures, and now _Tricia_, his _beloved,_ of all people, the only one aside from Ethan, who'd been by his side all these years, was lying in a goddamned _coma_ in the cot next to him, where absolutely _nothing_ they did could rouse her!

He felt a comforting hand slip onto his shoulder, and his best friend, Ethan Mendez, was saying in his psychiatrist-trained voice, "James, I know this is hard on you, but Hiroshi need to know what happened in there if he's going to help us find a solution."

"Goddamnit, this is all my fault, Ethan," James moaned, gripping his hair in between his fingers and seeking to tear them out in frustration. "I shouldn't have let her touch that gem in the first place! I knew it was nothing but trouble!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a sec here. What gem is he talking about?" Hiroshi asked confusedly, wanting to find out more about the incident from one of the witnesses.

"We don't know what it was," Isabella Keyes, the fourth and final person in the room, and Ethan's beau, answered for the ranger. "All we know is that it was big, ruby-colored, and the cursed thing was practically glowing with power. Tricia touched the thing, thinking to bring it back here, and..."

"And now she's in a coma because I failed to stop her!" James nearly screamed out, hunched over in emotional agony as he wrestled with his feelings in an effort to bring himself under control.

"Calm down, James!" Hiroshi firmly told the crusader. The four of them were in the infirmary of the headquarters of their adventurer's guild, "_The Marauders_", based somewhere within the mystical forest of Ellinia. James himself had founded the guild three years ago, alongside Ethan and Tricia, and Hiroshi had joined a mere three months after its inception, making him one of its most senior members - he had worked and fought alongside James for nearly all of those three years, and it pained him to see his guild leader roiling in self-pity like this - James had always been a fiery, determined young man, despite having been orphaned at the age of fourteen, and he was always able to shoulder his way on through even the most arduous of life's difficulties. And even though the clearest cause of James' distress to Hiroshi right now was lying comatose on a bed mere feet away from them, he _still_ didn't have a clear picture of what the hell had just happened.

Hiroshi had had the shock of his life when he had been in his workshop, tinkering over one of the artifacts that Abel, one of the other Marauders, had brought in from his latest 'excursion' into a monster's den, when all of a sudden Ethan and Isabella had barged in, both bloodied and half-broken. Ethan was dragging their unconscious and torn up guild leader behind him, and Isabella had been supporting a comatose, unresponsive Tricia Telfair on her shoulder. Aghast at the injuries that the group of them had sustained, Hiroshi had rushed them straight into the infirmary and had promptly treated their wounds, asking them what had happened. Ethan and Isabella had been far too exhausted to provide coherent accounts, only being able to tell him that they had barely managed to escape with their lives from a band of monsters that had been out for their blood. Curiously enough Tricia had been fairly untouched compared to the other three, but nothing Hiroshi had tried could rouse her - wake-up stims, resurrection potions, even his own cocktail of stimulant drugs had failed to cause the priestess to even stir. Deciding that he should let Ethan and Isabella rest, he had turned to his last potential source of information: James.

He had injected the unconscious crusader with the same chemical cocktail that had failed to wake the priestess, and James was up and about in a fraction of a moment. However the crusader's coherence had not lasted long when Hiroshi had answered his questions as to what had happened when he had passed out - upon hearing that Hiroshi only knew that Ethan and Isabella had brought him back here, along with an unresponsive Tricia, the crusader had promptly dropped into his seat, unresponsive and staring blankly. Obviously, the young man was in shock, though after Hiroshi's subsequent questioning and Ethan's gentle prodding, the young crusader had broken down.

"Ethan, Isabella, are either of you able to recall any details about the incident more clearly now?"

"Oh, damn straight I do." Ethan muttered darkly, though Hiroshi could tell that it as more of regret of his own part, rather than resentment towards James' part in whatever events that had unfolded. Slowly, with additions from Isabella and, eventually, James as well, the tale began to spill out.

"The four of us had been exploring the Perion-Sharenian border," Ethan began. "Hunting for Skeleton Commanders and their equipment to gather so we could sell them off for a profit. What we hadn't counted on was wandering too far into the ruins – we got hopelessly lost, until we stumbled across a giant chamber, and inside it was the largest damned ruby I'd ever seen in my life."

"A ruby, huh? Perion-Sharenian border? This is starting to sound familiar. Go on..." Hiroshi gestured for them to continue.

"The altar upon which the ruby was set had a warning inscribed upon it," Isabella continued for Ethan, giving the ranger time to collect his own memories of the incident. "Now that I think back upon it, I think we really should have taken heed of that warning. We didn't even bother getting a clear look at it because we were too excited about the ruby - we thought we had hit the mother lode! We figured we could just take the ruby and easily fight off any summoned guardians, take it back here. Tricia was the first up the altar, James was right behind her. Ethan and I were further back, nearer to the entrance..."

"Tricia was the first to set her hands on the ruby," James suddenly said, his voice no longer wavering but his face still buried in his hands. "But the very the moment her fingers touched the damn thing, _something_, I don't what the hell it was, happened. There was this huge flash of light, and all four of us were knocked flat. When we recovered, the first thing we saw was... was..." The crusader's voice began to break, and Ethan quickly stepped in spare James the pain of having to relive that particular painful memory.

"Putting it short, the damned thing looked like Death itself, on steroids." The ranger said curtly, as James took several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself.

"Explain." Hiroshi told Ethan, and as the Japanese Outlaw listened to the proceeding account with mounting dread, he turned an eye towards the priestess' lifeless body, lying on the cot right next to James. If their story was proceeding in the direction that he thought it was, Tricia's condition could only mean one thing - however before he made any conclusions, he needed to know more.

"If anything could have passed off as the grim reaper in this world, that would definitely be whatever the thing was that we encountered. It looked like some sort of giant revenant, cloaked in a red, hooded robe. Its face... completely devoid of flesh and skin, almost like a skull. And it was floating in the air... above Tricia's body... it was holding a staff adorned with rubies and a ram's skull, if I remember correctly..." Isabella said shakily, visibly traumatized by the event as well. Tricia had been a good friend of hers ever since she had joined the guild to find Ethan, and losing Tricia would have been like losing a sister.

"And I remember, the damned thing was cackling like some demented god of death." Ethan ground out between his gritted teeth, his hands balling into fists. "The son of a bitch probably enjoyed doing whatever it did to her, but James and I are going to enjoy returning the favor even more." Tricia was like a sister to him as well, as she had been James' girlfriend for years, and the crusader was like a brother to him - James had lost his parents to a monster attack on his town of Perion when he was only 14, and Ethan had taken the boy who had been his best friend ever since he was 11 in under his roof despite his parents' disapproval - the two had been sworn brothers ever since.

"James went berserk when he saw her body," The ranger continued tersely. "Before either Isabella or I could even get back up, James was already on his feet. He was screaming in rage as he assaulted the... the revenant, but even I don't know precisely what happened when he attacked it. Just one flick of that staff... bam."

Ethan disbelievingly shook his head, apparently not believing even his own memories himself. "James was unconscious on the floor, covered in lacerations, his _plate_ armor breached in more places than I could count. I tried to back him up, but just one look from the thing and suddenly I was floored myself. Felt like I had half my ribs broken."

"I knew we were fighting a losing battle," Isabella continued as Hiroshi's eyebrows shot upwards, but nodding nonetheless. "So I threw all the power I had into an Ice Strike to immobilize it. It worked - at least, only for a few seconds... But it was enough for Ethan to get James and Tricia's bodies out of there. We bolted as fast as we could, but the damned _statues_ came to life behind us, chasing us as we ran out of there. I exhausted almost all my mana just keeping them at bay so Ethan could blaze a trail ahead - we barely made it through the border alive. We trekked all the way to Perion and bought some return scrolls to Ellinia, where we immediately rushed here."

"I see..." Hiroshi murmured, taking in the entire story. All the signs pointed to where he feared the most, and James was not going to take the news well. Still, they had to be told what exactly had happened. "I think I've already pieced together what happened, and I hate to tell you this; Tricia isn't just in a coma. Her soul's been stolen."

Shocked silence greeted his sudden announcement, and the very first reaction he got was one of anger from James.

"_What..._ did you just say?" The crusader said in a quiet, but deadly voice. Hiroshi grimaced inwardly - _that_ was usually a sign that James was about to explode, and that wouldn't bode well if it happened right here in the infirmary. Quickly he subtly gestured to Ethan, and the ranger quickly set a firm hand down on James' shoulder, telling him to stay calm. Fuming, James drew his lips into a thin line, but stayed seated where he was and didn't say anything.

"Allow me to explain," Hiroshi quickly said, because it sure as hell seemed that the crusader wasn't going to wait around for details. "You four have inadvertently awakened who is known to us as Ergoth. Betrayer of Sharen the Third, and demon guardian of the legendary jewel Rubian." Regarding the nonplussed looks that were sent his way, Hiroshi sighed, and told them to give him a minute; he was going to need help if he was going to tell them the full story. Quickly running up to his workshop, he extracted a lore tome from one of his many bookshelves, and scurried back down before James got any more impatient than he already was.

"All right, here's the full story," The Japanese outlaw began reading from the tome, ignoring the dark look James shot his way. "Ergoth had been intended to be the guardian of the Rubian, and he was summoned into this world by the ruler of the former Sharenian Empire, Sharen the Third. The Rubian was- _is,_ a legendary jewel, rumored to hold the secrets to immortality and eternal life. Seems like whatever you encountered in the chamber was Ergoth and the Rubian."

"No shit, Sherlock," James muttered darkly. Just as Hiroshi was about to continue the tale, the door to the infirmary burst open, and the final three members of the Marauders streamed inside.

"Is Tricia all right?" The first of the trio inside, a White Knight clad in a red Battle Road, asked frantically. "We rushed back as soon as we heard that something had happened."

"I wish I could say that she's fine, Abel," Hiroshi said grimly. "Unfortunately she's far from that. Her soul's been stolen."

"Her soul's been... _what_?" The female Chief Bandit standing next to Abel asked in a small, horrified voice, one of disbelief.

"Hiroshi, if this is your idea of a joke, I am definitely not amused by it." The dour Dragon Knight standing next to the Chief Bandit said in a gravelly voice.

"I assure you, Logan, I am not joking. And Juliana, Tricia's soul has been _stolen_," Hiroshi told the two. "From a medical standpoint though, her physical body is in a coma, so we can take some small comfort in that - it's simple enough to maintain coma patients, but we'll need to retrieve her soul somehow if we're going to have any hope of resuscitating her. I was just in the process of telling these three here the whole story..."

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" The White Knight, Abel, said impatiently. "Let's hear it! I wanna find out just what the hell happened here."

"Patience, Abel." Hiroshi quickly said. "Putting a long story short, these four barely escaped with their lives from the Perion-Sharenian border, apparently after awakening what they believed to be a revenant of some sort. I was just giving them the full story behind the revenant so they'd understand just what exactly has happened to Trisha."

"Now, as I was saying about the Rubian," The outlaw continued. "Ergoth was the demon summoned to guard the Rubian by Sharen the Third. Any king would want to have the secrets to immortality and eternal life, but Sharen, strangely enough, never used the power of the Rubian himself, claiming that the Rubian's power was too great and terrible to be wielded by mortal hands. Apparently, the secret of immortality also came at a terrible price, one that Sharen was wise enough to recognize. Sharen didn't have any intention of letting the jewel's power fall into anyone else's hands, so short of destroying the Rubian, he summoned Ergoth to guard it. Of course, being a demon, Ergoth turned on his master and murdered him, instead using the Rubian's power to turn the mighty empire into his own monarchy of undead soldiers and beasts."

"Centuries later, the ruins of the empire would be discovered by human explorers, their undead inhabitants uncovered and awakened from their long slumber. However Ergoth himself would remain locked in stasis inside the Rubian, having used to jewel's power to keep himself alive all these years. Each time some unfortunate soul touched the gem, Ergoth's power would be awakened, and short of defeating him, the only way to seal his power back inside the Rubian would be to sacrifice one human soul – in this case, Tricia's soul."

Gasps of shock and cries of disbelief met his statement, but Hiroshi kept his cool and continued his explanation. They had to know what had happened.

"Ergoth has ripped Tricia's soul from her body in punishment for awakening him, and he has taken her soul captive with him back inside the jewel. Many other unlucky adventurers who had been hapless enough to try to take the jewel from its altar have suffered the same fate - Tricia is just the latest."

"Well, that was dumb of Sharen," The Dragon Knight, Logan, remarked. "Only a fool would trust a demon. Sharen should have known that when he summoned Ergoth."

"Unfortunately, Logan, our current knowledge of demons was learnt thanks to the Sharenians mistakes." Hiroshi said gravely. "They never even had a clue about what we know about demons now, and our current knowledge is thanks to Sharen's actions of summoning Ergoth and his ilk into this world - as far as we know, Ergoth is the very first demon to step into Bera's material plane, and the Sharenians had no idea whatsoever that he was in fact, a demon."

"Their mistake. That useless monarch probably cowered and begged for his life before Ergoth killed him."

"Logan," Hiroshi began slowly. "Sharen the Third was in fact a very capable warrior, and one of the mightiest mages of his time. He didn't get to be the king of the Sharenian culture through bloodline privileges or civilized political intrigue and canvassing of grassroots support. And the very fact that Ergoth had managed to outright subdue, and murder, the ruler of the Sharenian culture _right in front_ of the entire royal court, all of whom were powerful mages and royal guards themselves, and massacre said court subsequently without even breaking a sweat, is testament to Ergoth's power."

"I don't care how powerful this 'Ergoth' is." James' voice suddenly made itself heard, no longer wavering but now cold as ice, and hard as steel. "That demon has Tricia's soul captive, and I swear on my father's sword that one way or another, I am going to get her back."

Everyone in the room had their eyes locked onto James, staring at his proclamation, but most shocked of all was Hiroshi, who knew full well what Ergoth was capable of. The outlaw looked into the crusader's steely eyes, and said, "If you plan on going back in there, I hope to God you've got a plan."

"Thought I'd try fighting way in," The crusader replied coolly, as though it were the simplest thing in the world to do. "Mix things up a bit."

Giving a long and loud sigh, Hiroshi tried to explain carefully to James just how suicidal his decision was. "James, you barely even survived one confrontation with Ergoth, and you didn't even last fifteen seconds. Even though seeing that the fight was so short I don't think you had time to release your father's Heaven's Gate, still..."

"Hiroshi," Ethan suddenly interrupted. "James immediately released Zangetsu. And judging from the way he was moving, I think he had his Sharingan activated as well. I even used Kojaku and had my own Byakugan activated, and yet when Ergoth hit me I didn't even see it coming."

The room fell cold and silent at this statement, to which Hiroshi stared at Ethan agape for several moments.

"Okay," The outlaw finally managed to get his mouth working again. "Then you _really_ need more than just going in all gung-ho, because that's _definitely _going to get you killed!"

"I don't have the time or the patience for this!" James snapped angrily. "Every second that passes by, Tricia's soul is being held captive by that... that _demon_," The crusader nearly spat out the word, every syllable laced with venom. "Doing God only knows what to her for his own sick amusement, and I don't intend to just sit around here _thinking_ this through if there's something I can _do_ about it!"

"There is, James!" Hiroshi tried to knock some sense into the crusader's thick skull. "You would stand a better fighting chance against Ergoth if you first gather several magical items from certain rare beasts, I would be able to use those items to create something that'll better your odds."

"Another one of your technomancy contraptions, Hiroshi?" The crusader asked impatiently, but nodded nonetheless, deciding to curb his impatience regarding Tricia's rescue for now. "Well, we all know how much of a help those really can be, so I guess it's worth a shot. What do you need?"

"A few days to put together the basic materials, more than enough of which are present right here at headquarters. However I'm going to need a Tengu Nose from the Black Crow at Zipangu, some Black Essence from Captain Latanica at Port Singapore, cybernetic parts scavenged from Zeno at Omega Sector, a Goblin Cape, Cap, and Bat from Green, Yellow, and Blue Goblin Kings respectively at Korean Folk Town, and lastly, a Lucida Tail that came specifically from Eliza."

"All right, I'll take them all myself if that's what it takes. Where can I find them all?" James asked determinedly, getting to his feet despite his still-recovering injuries.

"Oh no, James, you're not taking this on by yourself." Ethan suddenly said, placing his hand on James' shoulder. "We haven't gone through ten years of shit together for me to just let you shoulder this whole thing by yourself. I'm going with you."

"So am I." Isabella declared, rising to her feet from her chair as well. "Tricia was like a sister to me too, she was like a sister to all of us. She was a great friend, and I'll be damned if I sit here and do nothing to help if there's a way to get her back!"

"We're in on this too." Abel announced. "Isabella's right, Tricia was a valued friend to all of us, and we're not going to take a back seat in this. We're going to help out too." Next to him, the younger Chief Bandit, Juliana, nodded eagerly, and even Logan, who was leaning off-handedly against the wall to one side, nodded his own affirmative.

As James looked over the room, seeing his entire guild pledging their support and aid to his quest, he could not help but wonder what deeds he had done to deserve such wonderful friends. A sincere smile broke out over his face, and all he could manage before his voice broke was, "Thanks, guys. All of you."

"All right, all right," Hiroshi suddenly interrupted, carrying several lore tomes and files in his arms as he strode through the door again. "Before someone in this room throws up. I've got lore tomes here and reports detailing what I could find out about each of their strengths and weaknesses. Each of you pick one to go after. In the meantime, I'm going to have to stay here and start assembling the basic materials so that by the time you guys get back with the artifacts I need, it'll be ready for testing."

Going over to the table in the centre of the room, Hiroshi dumped the tomes and files, where the others quickly came to look over them. Abel picked up the tome and file concerning Captain Latanica, and gave the cover only a glance before deciding. "Yeah, I'm definitely taking this guy. Guess I'll be catching a flight to Singapore."

Logan was flipping through the file concerning Zeno, and something tugged at his mind as he looked through the images of the giant alien cyborg. There was something strangely familiar about that... "I think I'll take this one. There's something oddly familiar about this. Perhaps it's time to go back to Omega Sector."

Soon enough, everyone had their respective beasts to hunt down. Juliana had decided to go after the Three Goblin Kings herself, and nobody could dissuade her otherwise. Isabella chose Eliza as her target, as she had intimate knowledge of the area around Orbis, and Ethan and James had decided to hunt down Black Crow together.

"Glad you guys could make your decisions so fast." Hiroshi muttered, looking at the gathered group of adventurers before him. "Well, you guys had better get going then. I'd work better assembling the weapon alone here. Wish you guys the best of luck."

As the Marauders filed out of the room one by one, Ethan stopped at the door with James as the crusader took one last, longing look at Tricia's still form, lying on the infirmary cot, and the ranger gave Hiroshi a confident grin. "What did James always say, Hiroshi? 'We don't need luck, we make our own.'"

As the two finally left the infirmary, Hiroshi sighed, and gave a resigned grin of his own. "Oh, we definitely do, don't we?"

Seeing that Tricia couldn't be further helped at the moment, the outlaw left the infirmary and trudged back to his workshop, where he pulled out a file full of blueprints that were labelled "Modular Tactical Exoskeleton - Nano-Muscle Suit".

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A/N: Just a brief character bio on each of the characters, to elaborate a little on their histories and personalities. More fics to come later, each one chronicling each individual Marauder's adventure. Also before you leave, please remember to leave a REVIEW =D

_James Cyrus  
Age: 22 ½  
Job: Crusader  
_

James is the founder of the adventurer's guild The Marauders, and one of its most powerful members. He co-founded the guild with his long-time girlfriend Tricia Telfair, and his best friend Ethan Mendez two years after the three graduated from the Pioneer's Academy in Kerning City. James was enrolled into the Pioneer's Academy at the age of 11, and led a relatively normal, some might even say sheltered childhood in Perion, until his parents, who were adventurers too, died protecting the town from a monster attack when he was only 14. The incident left him a homeless orphan, with only his father's sword, his mother's pendant, and a tiny bank vault with five hundred thousand mesos to his name. Vowing to do his parents' memories proud and become a powerful adventurer himself, young James set out to his new life's mission with a passion and inner fire that few of his classmates could match. He meteorically rose through the ranks of the Academy along with his friend Ethan, graduating a semester early at the age of 17 rather than the normal 18, and receiving Top Honors from the Academy's headmaster. As an alumni, James was one of the most talented adventurers that the Academy had ever produced – he hunted down monsters with a manic intensity observed in very few, and within a year had amassed a hundred million mesos to his name, as well as a hoard of supplies and artifacts. He explored ruins and tracked rare beasts that seasoned, veteran adventurers would think twice of taking on, and managed to survive each and every time. After five years of pioneering James is currently one of the most famous, if not skilled or powerful of all the adventurers, and is hailed as the modern "Indiana Jones" of Bera.

_Tricia Telfair  
Age: 23 ½  
Job: Priestess  
_

The daughter of a police commissioner in Kerning City, Tricia Telfair's background could not have been more different from James', having been raised in the urban environment as opposed to the wilderness of Perion. She was a second-year student when James and Ethan were first enrolled into the Academy and first met them when James, first-year country bumpkin that he was then, ended up spilling his lunch all over her in the cafeteria when he tripped and sent his tray flying. Despite getting off to a bad start, Tricia later befriended the odd swordsman-in-training, inexplicably drawn to his endearingly silly and carefree attitude. That happy-go-lucky outlook on life however, would be gone as soon as James lost his parents in a monster attack during his fourth year. Tricia found herself growing a lot closer to the apprentice swordsman than she thought she would, providing him with comfort and condolences where his best friend Ethan never could. It was not long into her seventh year, where she and James were finally in the same semester due his skipping an entire semester thanks to his phenomenal grades, where she discovered that she was harboring feelings for the apprentice swordsman – it did not take very long for nature to take its course, and the two have been together ever since.

_Ethan Mendez  
Age: 22 ½  
Job: Ranger  
_

When they say that great minds think alike, James and Ethan are no exception. Dubbed as the "Dynamic Duo" during their Academy days, James and Ethan had been best friends in the Academy since Day 1. Hailing from a nobleman's family in Henesys, Ethan's genius and natural talent shone through his classes right from the start, providing a stark contrast to James' laziness and his just-passing grades. However as years went by and James was orphaned by the monster attack on Perion, Ethan found himself being less of a friend to James and more of a surrogate brother – with his best friend having nowhere to go, Ethan offered to take James in under his roof, risking a serious falling out with his parents. Having all the reason to clean up his act, James was soon up to par with Ethan in his studies, and very quickly the two were equals in the Academy. Ethan graduated a semester early as well alongside James, and after two years of solo adventuring, he co-founded the Marauders guild with James to build up a team of like-minded pioneers to hunt down rare beasts and treasures.

_Isabella Keyes  
Age: 21  
Job: Ice/Lightning Mage  
_

It did not take very long for the Marauders guild to make a name for themselves once word got out that the heads of the guild were none other than James Cyrus and Ethan Mendez – Isabella Keyes, having graduated from the Academy two years after James and Ethan left, joined the guild almost immediately the moment it was formed. Isabella and Ethan had had an unofficial relationship of sorts during their Academy days, most of which consisted of unresolved sexual tension. While the attraction between him and his one-year junior was undeniable, Ethan vehemently denied any intentions of any sort, despite the ruthless teasing of James and his other peers. Isabella did pretty much the same, vehemently denying any attraction of any sort to her own friends, but when Ethan graduated, Isabella found herself yearning for the archer's presence in her life once again. When she received word about the Marauders guild, Isabella had immediately stormed over to the guild's headquarters, demanded to see Ethan, and planted a firm kiss on his mouth the very moment they set eyes upon each other. As an Ice Mage, Isabella had a cold sort of beauty about her, and had a reputation in the Academy for being an Ice Queen – her love life was about as cold as her namesake, and Ethan so far has been the only one who is ever able to thaw the layers of permafrost that surround her heart.

_Abel Locke  
Age: 23 ½  
Job: White Knight  
_

Abel Locke joined the Marauders a year after its inception, when they had made a serious reputation for themselves in the adventuring business. Hailing from Tricia and James' batch of Academy graduates, the priestess' old friend decided to join the guild "for old times' sake", and has proven a valuable addition to the guild's ranks. Abel's slick confidence, light-hearted flirtatiousness and silver tongue has helped the guild cut many deals in the adventuring business, as well as worm their way out of many hostile confrontations with rival adventurers with nary a scratch. That, combined with his handsome, dashing appearance, made him quite the lady killer as well. Though a master swordsman and taijutsu practitioner, Abel prefers not to draw his sword, instead striving to solve disagreements peacefully through negotiations, and will use his taijutsu first if violence has to be resorted to.

_Logan Shepard  
Age: 25  
Job: Dragon Knight_

Lonely and dangerous would merely scratch the surface when describing the enigma named Logan Shepard who joined the guild a mere half a year after Abel did. Logan admits to being an amnesiac, having no memory of his past, but none of that has put a damper on his abilities; he is a dangerous fighter, able to take on up to ten foes at once and emerge from the fight unscathed, as well as a deadly assassin, with skills in the arts of stealth to rival that of a Hermit. With the only link to his past being a mysterious tattoo on the base of his neck, and a necklace named the Eye of Skadi, Logan decided to start his life on a fresh slate, and travel the world in hopes of encountering something that would hopefully restore his memories. His gruff, toughened personality at first was at complete odds with Abel's light-hearted confidence, but as time went on the two became close friends, turning into the "Starsky and Hutch" of the guild, and many times Logan has aided in Abel's smooth-talking by playing the good-cop-bad-cop routine with him.

_Juliana Haley  
Age: 22  
Job: Chief Bandit  
_

A bright, chirpy young woman and a former classmate of James during his early years in the Academy, Juliana joined the Marauders some time after Abel did, but before Logan arrived. She got along famously with Abel when she joined the guild, but somehow still remained innocently clueless to all his playful advances. When Logan was brought into the guild's fold, Juliana was the catalyst that sparked off the friendship between him and Abel, and the three have been inseparable companions ever since. Her child-like, carefree personality provides yet another dimension their comradeship, in contrast to Abel's mature flirtatiousness, and Logan's moody brooding.

_Hiroshi Takei  
Age: 23  
Job: Outlaw  
_

The Marauders' resident gizmo whiz, and the only pirate in the adventurers' guild. Hiroshi was a dropout from the Academy, expelled for "excessive experimentation with dangerous materials", but really, was he really to blame for those two small lab explosions that simply resulted in him getting his and his lab assistant's eyebrows burnt off? Nevertheless Hiroshi managed to make a name for himself in the world as an inventor while James and the others were still slaving away in the Academy, creating several powerful devices with a fusion of magic and technology. Hiroshi once lived the life of a mercenary, selling his services to the highest bidder, but when he met the young and idealistic James, Hiroshi made the decision to join the Marauders and commit himself to a higher cause. A genius in his own right, Hiroshi has an eye for mechanics and gadgets that few others have, and is usually responsible for turning the useless trinkets that the guild members bring in from their excursions into useful devices. Ethan's Quincy Cross artifact is one such example; Hiroshi has a way with artifacts that allows his technology to interface with the magic inherent in them, rather than interfering with it. His most distinctive creation is the Soul Slayer, an extremely powerful weapon created through the binding of a magical artifact of any kind to any unscrolled regular weapon. The process of joining the Mauraders involves hunting down a rare monster and bringing back its artifact to be bound to the adventurer's weapon, where Hiroshi would then create the adventurer's own Soul Slayer, thus marking them as one of the guild.


End file.
